by stefaniedianne, Aug 24, 2010, 12:31:18 PM Literature / Prose / Fiction / Fantasy / Short Stories Poem: In the beginning i was here, Long before the white man and his diseases, his religions, and his warlike ways. I lived upon the land for countless moons in harmony with the Great Spirit, Honoring all life around me. In this land called Kan-tu-kee, the great meadow, the dark bloody ground, I was known as Shawnee, Cherokee, Iroquois, Creek.... I AM NATIVE AMERICAN. Story: Rayne was good friends with the chiefs daughter. She had no parents so the chief took her in as his won daughter. Rayne and the chiefs daughter, Skye, always played and ran through the corn fields. They were eighteen and still young at heart. One day they ran to the little clearing in the woods near their home place. On the other side of the woods and clearing stood the shore of the ocean. As they ran through the trees and neared the shore, they saw big white sails coming to their land. They were ships! They, of course, didnt know what they were, they had never seen them before. They ran and consulted with their father. He knew of these ships coming and knew what they were carrying, for he had seen them come before. He knew they carried pale-faces coming to take their land. Soon the ships were anchored just off shore and Rayne saw, with her won eyes, all of the pale-faces coming onto the land of her people! She hid skillfully in her favorite woods looking at the pople, and she sat and thought. All of a sudden she heard footsteps behind her. She assumed it was Skye. She turned to look and saw a pale-face staring back at her. She panicked and stood to a crouch ready to run. The pale-face said something in her own tongue, and made gestures to Rayen not to run. Rayne stood cautiously. The pale-face pointed to herself and said, Aneira. Rayne understood that her name was Aneira. Rayne got scared as she heard Skye calling her name. Panicked, Rayne looked at Aneira and motioned for her to go. Aneira asked, What is your name? and did not want Rayne to go. Meet me here tomorrow! I want to learn of your people! As she said this, Rayne started running to go meet with Skye. Skye Questioned her but all Rayne said was that the pale-faces were here on thier strange vessels and were walking on their land. Their father called his best men and they talked of what they should do. This took them a long time. Many days had passed before they were finished. As these days went by, Rayne went to her woods and met with Aneira many times. They talked to each other about their people and soon understood each others languages well. She found out that Aneira was her age, and Aneiras people were from an island called Ireland. Her people came to the New Land to have freedom. Rayne became very intrigued by Aneira and her people. They soon bacame very good friends and knew alot about each other. They met secretly, so Raynes father wouldnt know and so neither of them wold get in trouble with their people. One day, Skye wanted to talk to Rayne so she started walking to the clearing. She knew that Rayne would be there since she wasnt in the village. Meandering towards the clearing, she heard voices. She slowed down and hid behind an tree and looked. She saw Rayne talking to a pale-face! She immediately ran to the chief and told him that Rayne was talking to one of the intruders. The Chief decided that he had enough. These people were invading their land and taking away their culture. the Chief told Skye to go get her sister and bring her back. THIS IS WAR!!!!! cried the Chief. Skye prayed that the wind would help her feet run as fast as they could to the clearing. She found Rayne by herself. Rayne immediately stood and asked where Skye had been and why her stricken face was contorted with worry. Skye said that the Chief was looking for her, and that she needed to go to the village immediately. Rayne ran with Skye back to the camp to find her father very angry and upset. She didnt understand at first, but then she saw Skyes face of guilt. Rayne knew that she had been caught. Her father spoke to her not as if she was his daughter but as if she was a criminal. He spoke to her as The Chief, not her father. He said, Your choices are to stop talking to the pale-face, or leave this village and never return. Go live with these people you so freely trust! She argued with the Chief that he didnt understand. These people are good people. All they want is to live in harmony and have freedom from their own people. They dont want to harm us or steal our land! Please, father... She begged. You were talking to the enemy! They ARE taking our land. They ARE killing our people, Rayne! And as Chief of YOUR people, I must do what is right. You have one night to make your decision. As he said this, he walked away and told two of his warriors, in war paint, to keep watch of Rayne and make sure no pale-faces come. Rayne ran to the clearing and fell to her knees confused as to what to do. She heard far off footsteps of her fathers warriors coming to watch her. She quickly started calling out to the trees for guidance. Four trees in front of her changed into the four seasons and then turned into four beautiful women each as the four seasons. One stepped forward; her skin was green with different colored leaves covering her. I am Autumn, she said. She had long straight hair, the color of mahogany autumn leaves, that came to the small of her back. Another stepped forward; her skin was blue with what looked like snowflakes drawn or painted onto her body. She sparkled like the first snow fall of winter. I am Winter, she stated. As she turned to return to the other seasons, her long, white, curly hair flowed around her like a flurry of snow. A third stepped forward; her skin was purple and she had flower petals placed on her body, and as she stepped forward she said, I am Spring. She turned and Rayne saw Springs long green hair that flowed like grass in the wind. The last had bright yellow skin, with sand and seashells covering her body, and she stepped foward saying, I am Summer and we are the four seasons. You have summoned us and we are here to help you. Rayne looked confused and stated that she did not summon anything. and she had no idea what was going on. Winter stepped up to match Summers stance and said, In your times of trouble and need of counsel, look to the seasons and they will come as you need them. Rayne stood and her face became understanding and she had a memory come to her mind of her true mother. The memory of her mother telling her a story about the seasons and saying the same thing Winter had just said. But she had never understood what her mother was telling her. Now she realized her mother was giving her help. Rayne and the seasons talked and counseled for a long time as Rayne made up her mind. When they were finished talking, the four seasons put their hands on Rayne and a beautiful dream catcher appeared in her hands. Fall was the first one to speak after a long silence. Keep this with you always and remember us and the time we had. Know that any time you need us you may summon us again. Rayne looked at the intricate designs of the dream catcher. There were four feathers connected to the bottom and each represented one of the seasons. She thought of a dream catcher her true mother had and remembered it looked like the one she now had in her hands. She saw the four seasons slowly walk backwards and into their tree places. she looked at the dream catcher again and when she looked up she saw that they were already changed back into trees. I will always remember you... she thought to herself. She looked up to the now starry skies and whispered, Thank you, mother, for sending them to me..... She slowly stood and turned to leave the clearing. She had to go tell her decision to her father. When she made it to the village she saw many people of her kind standing in a circle. She pushed through and saw Aneira crying, kneeling on the ground in front of the Chief. Father! What is going on? Rayne yelled running towards Aneira. He put his hand up to make her stop running and to tell her to not say a word. She stopped and looked at Aneira. Rayne, she knows our language. he said. Yes, father. She looked at AneiraRayne, please, dont worry. I came here on my own. Rayne looked at her with a confused look. Why? she asked. I stayed in the trees and heard you get in trouble for talking to me. I...I didnt want anything to happen to you. The Chief stood and listened and Rayne kept talking to Aneira. You couldve got yourself killed, Aneira. They are not mercifiul. Aneira just looked down and looked behind Rayne at the Chief. The Chief looked confused as to why Aneira would do such a thing and why she trusted Rayne so much. Rayne, at that time, told her father what her decision was; that she would continue learning about Aneira and her people, giving them the chance to learn about the native way. The Chief did not understand why they trusted each other so much and how they could be so considerate towards each other and their people. Because of this, he saw that Rayne had wisdom, and he too would give Aneira and her people a chance. He wanted to learn with them, not to fight with them. As a gift, Rayne gave Aneira a red hawk feather to signify their friendship and Aneira gave Rayne a seagull feather in exchange. These Feathers were kept many years as a token of their friendship and as a peace treaty between the pale-faces and the natives. THE END
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 16:06:33 +0000
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